Inhibitory action of reveromycin A on TGF-alpha-dependent growth of ovarian carcinoma BG-1 in vitro and in vivo.

The antitumor effect of reveromycin A (RM-A), an inhibitor of EGF-dependent cell proliferation on murine and human tumor cell lines, was examined in vitro and in vivo, RM-A showed little antitumor effect against three murine tumors tested, but showed strong antitumor effect (a minimum treated/control ratio of 36%) against a human ovarian carcinoma BG-1, which is known to be a transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha)-secreting and estrogen receptor-expressing cell line. In BG-1 cells, RM-A inhibited the cell proliferation induced by TGF-alpha at the concentration range 30-300 nM, but did not inhibit the proliferation induced by 17 beta-estradiol (E2).RM-A is a possible new antitumor drug with a novel mechanism of action and may also be a useful tool for the analysis of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mediated cell proliferation in tumor cells.